Thrust-bearing.



H. HESS.

THRUST BEARING. APPLICATION F!LED.AUG.I3,1908. RENEWED DEC2.1916.

' Patented July 10, 1917.

2 sun's SNEETI 1 m f m 6 0 6% z 8 7 a L intermediate member F betweenthe thrust face 2 and abutment 5. Thescyielding members, are each in theform of an annular spring made up 'of a series of rings .orcylindensectious G formed with sloping wallsgreater in diameter at oneend than at the other end, and. placed end to end, one series of ringswithin the other, the'reby constitutmg a seriesof concentric coils, eachcoil comprising, in the present instance, four rings, and each springcomprising, in the present nstance, three coils. At their upper ends thes rings bear respectwcly against Y the thrust aces, while at theiropposite ends they act on the thrust abutmcnts through the medium ofannular plates H, I and K ,whi ch in turn rest upon three series offriction ballsk, i and is, sustained respectively by hearing plates-L,M, and N, supported in turn by the thrust abutn'icnts 4, 5 and 6, the

upper and lower plates and the three series, of interposed frictionballs constituting ball bearings, forming a "rolling contact between thesprings and. the thrust abutments.

The combined strength of the springs-is such that theywill-:yieldingly'support the whole tlirustload to which the shaft is subjected, and eachspringis so formedthat it will support only a proportionate amount of.this load,-the resultbeing that the thrust I load is distributed amongthe several bearingsin proportion to the strength of thedifferent-springs. As a result of this-construction. and arrangement,and assuming that the several springs are of the same strength, greaterwear on one of the bearings will result in a slight elongation of itsspring, and aconsequent decrease of the load on that hearing, which willbe" accompanied by a corresponding increase of load on the otherbearings, causing the latter to have increased wear, and this wearcontinuing, will result in a 'corre'spondin g elongation ofitheirsprings and a final reestablishment of the proper normal conditions,with theffirst bearing receiving with the othcrs,its proper amount'ofload. ,Such action would be more likely .to: occurwith the bearingsarranged concentrically-as shown in Fig. 1, in wl-iich construction theouter bearingwould necessar1ly,'by reason of its greater diameterj andits greater distance from the axisof i'iitation,

receive greater wear than" the others, al- 'tluu-gh with-a rollingcontact, such asis prod u ced by the ball-bearin gsshown, this would befar less in proportion than with contact,- such as is illustrated in igs3, m which the balls areor'nitted and the single bearing plate H, issupported by thethrust abutment 4; As shown in Fig.2, instead of theseveral supportingm'embers being arranged concens'liding trically in asingleplane at right angles to the axis of rotation, they may hedrrunged in tandem, one behind the other. {In this case, the thrustfaces' are formed respectively on three collars B, B and B, ro-

jecting at intervals from the shaft in di e:- ent parallel planes, andthe thrust abutments are formed by three annular fixed flange's'4,

'5 and 6f extending inwardly from a surrounding frame or easing C indifferent plates parallel with the planes of the thrust faces, thesprings D, E and F being inter- ,posed respectively between these partsand acting in their combined efi'ect, to sustain the full thrust load,eaph spring. taking its proportionate amount of this load. In the actionof this form "of bearing, the distribution of the load is the same asinthat first described, and in the eventfof unequal wear,

the-spring of the bearing subjected to-the greatest wear, will elongateslightly and relieve this bearing of a portion of the load, throwing itonthe other two-bearings, which.

will be subjected to greater wear, and the parts will inthis manner, asin the first instance described, automatically readjustthemselves to theroper normal conditions, all the bearings ,ta ring their proper amount 7of the load.

It will be observed that each sprin is given a'fixed support relativelyto the s aft and tothe other springs, andthat they act independently ofeach other, andas a consethis band the total discoiinection of thesprings, as far as their expansion and contraction is concerned, anypressure taken from one spring by reason of unequal.

wear will. be immediately transmitted to and divided among the othersprings, so that the unequal wear is automatically corrected,

'formly and properly distribute the .-load "and the hearing will operatewithout any manual adjustments or resetting, to uni-- among the severalbearings and cushioning,

j members.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is In a thrust bearing,the combination with a shaft provided withdan v.anmilar' thrust face, of1a relatively fixed annular thrust abutment, and a spring interposedbetween said parts and consisting of coilssurrounda ing the shaft inconcentric arrangement one w thin the other and exerting its pressurerespectively against the thrust face and the thrust abutment. i

In testimony whereofl have affixed' my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

' HENRY'HESS.

WVitnesses: v

Nm'rm L. Hans, Tn'ro. H. MCnm.

